The Other Pond Girl
by iloveamypondxx
Summary: The Other Pond Girl
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

The Doctor winced as he heard another long, drawn-out scream from inside the newly disinfected hospital room. He didn't want to go in, he couldn't face it, he was way too squeamish! For another half-hour he paced up and down outside, putting his hands over his ears to block out the horrible noises. Eventually he decided to go back inside the TARDIS until it was over. He settled himself down and happily read a book called ' Knitting for girls' for another hour.

Suddenly, there was knock at the door. A nurse was standing outside, smiling.

" She said you would be in here!" the nurse said, cheerfully" She wants me to tell you that it's a girl and that she wants you to come and see her.".

The Doctor beamed and clapped his hands with joy. He ran into his study to put away the book and grabbed his fez on the way out. he stopped to check his reflection in the TARDIS scanner and positioned the hat carefully on his head. He straightened his bow-tie and ran out the door.

He swaggered into the hospital room and the stopped in his tracks when he caught sight of Riversong, sitting up in bed looking slightly frazzled but very happy. In her arms was tiny baby who was now flailing about and gurgling at the sight of the Doctor. River grinned and sighed when she spied the Doctor's fez. " Take it off." she instructed him.

"Awwww!" the Doctor protested before giving up the fez. River placed it carefully on the bedside table. The Doctor gently slid onto the bed next to River. She gave a squeak of protest and then sighed and leaned against him.

Their baby gurgled at them. " Chose a name!" the Doctor suddenly said.

" Marie." Replied River, without hesitation.

" Ok then... ummmm... Rose!" The Doctor exclaimed. River looked at him, not getting what he was doing.

" Which way round?" He asked her.

"Ummmm...Rose first?" She said, unsure of her answer.

"Ok! That's settled then! Rose Marie Pond!" said the Doctor, he laughed and kissed Rose on the forehead. River grinned at the Doctor's straightforward baby naming technique.

"I love you sweetie." she sighed. The Doctor grinned and kissed her. The nurses both turned their backs.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"No!" Screamed River, she was nearly in tears but only holding them back out of anger.

"I mean it River." said the Doctor, calmly. " She has to go to them. The TARDIS isn't a safe place for a baby."

"I won't let her go! cried River, tears now suddenly in full flow. " She's my baby! She needs me!"

"I know!" said the Doctor, starting to get angry."But she doesn't need death yet! You can't save the world and raise a small child at the same time!".

River was finally broken, slumped in a chair and bawling. She knew she had no other choice. She and the Doctor were going to take Rose to a 21st century British family who where willing to adopt her. The Doctor and River would never be able to face losing their only child to anything.

" Think of all the things we're going to miss." sighed River " Her first steps, her first words and her first day at school!" her voice started going slightly squeaky so she just sat, tears rolling down her cheeks.

Suddenly, the Doctor's face crumpled and he raced out of the room. He returned about 30 seconds later with Rose in his arms. He sat by River and they stared at their beautiful baby. After a few minutes they were hugging her close and sniffling. Finally River stood up.

"We have to do what is right for her." she said. "Let's just get this over with so we can come and pick her up when she's old enough." She started flicking the controls. She would have loved to take Rose to Amy and Rory to look after, seeing as Amy couldn't have any more kids. But fixed points were fixed points and she couldn't change that. She could never see her parents again.

"I know a couple who want to adopt." the Doctor said "The address is 224 Baker street, London"

"Ok." Replied River "Are they nice?"

"Very." The Doctor answered.

The TARDIS had landed in front of a small café and a house marked '221B'.

"Slightly off course!" Remarked the Doctor, who seemed to find it very funny when his wife made mistakes when flying the TARDIS, however minor they might be. They crossed the road and counted the houses until they found themselves outside number '224'.

"Here it is!" said River and rappped on the door with the huge brass knocker.

"Hello! I've been expecting you Doctor!" said the very cheerful looking woman on the other side of the door. She had a messy brown bun and was wearing a cute, floaty top and skinny jeans with green converses. She looked down and her eyes fell on Rose.

"So this is your baby then!" she said, her eyes lighting up like someone had swiched on a light. "What's her name?"

"Rose." Replied River. " The Doctor told me you were wanting to adopt so we thought you could look after her till she's 18 and we can take her back again.". The woman looked slightly startled by River blunt approach.

"Well, yeah." she said " The Doctor came to me earlier and told me that. I'll be happy to take her. I can't have kids you see, I'm infertile."

"Lovely." Replied River "The Doctor and I will just go and say goodbye to her." River and the Doctor turned away and took Rose just out of earshot of the woman.

"You be a good girl Rose." River whispered in her ear "Wherever you are when you're 18 we'll come and find you."

"Remember us." said the Doctor " You need to, because when you're old enugh we can pivk you up and show you the stars. You can go anywhere in the universe and you won't be confined to this stupid little planet anymore."

Rose gurgled and reached out her plump little starfish hands. They took her back to the house and the woman thanked them and took Rose away.

The Doctor and River started to make their way back to the TARDIS. They were both stood outside 221b again while the Doctor was unlocking the TARDIS door when they heard a gunshot.

"It came from inside the house!" River shouted, looking up.

The Doctor was at the door at once. He straightend his bow-tie and tapped smartly on the door. A little old lady answered.

"Is everything ok?" he asked her. " I heard a gunshot and I came to check there was no trouble."

"Oh! You heard it then!" she said " Its just the man upstairs, he gets a bit boared sometimes!"

She turned and shouted into the house.

"Sherlock! There are people complaining about you again!"

"I'll just leave you to it." the Doctor mumbled, backing away.

The Doctor and River walked into the TARDIS. River pulled the Doctor into an unexpected hug.

"That, was horrible." she mumbled into his shirt.

"I know, I know." the Doctor replied. "But," he added "Now we can go and pick her up!"


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

The Doctor and River each took a side of the TARDIS console and ran about flipping switches, pressing buttons and pulling levers.

"Okay we've landed!" said River, grinning "Let's go see our daughter!"

They stepped out into a busy main road. "She must be here somewhere!" The Doctor shouted over the traffic noise.

"I've locked on to her signal! We need to look really carefully!" Shouted River in reply.

The Doctor took out his sonic screwdriver and quickly scanned the street. "This way!" He shouted. He and River ran down the street.

"Look at that!" remarked one of Rose's friends as they made their way down the road.

"I recognise them, I think..." replied Rose.

"Don't be crazy!" retorted her friend. "They look like they just got out of the loony bin!" she made a face of complete disbelief. "Check it out! The guy has a glowing green stick!"

"I can't remember who they are but I feel like I know them somehow." said Rose thoughtfully. She had a strange, subliminal feeling of complete trust for them.

The Doctor and River ran up to her. Rose had hair just like River's , only it was bright red. River smiled fondly at her daughter.

"Hello Rose." she said, softly.

Rose looked at her with confusion. " My name isn't Rose." she told River "It's Lilly!"

River gasped and made a disapproving face "The stupid bitch!" she shouted " She renamed you! I know that's it's you Rose, you have a unique signal... nobody could replicate that!"

Noticing that at that point, that River was incapable of keeping calm the Doctor decided to take control over the situation. "Rose" he said " I'm calling you Rose because that is your real name. We know where your house is. Come with us. We need you to help us find something of yours."

"Ok..." said Rose, not really knowing why she was trusting these people " But only if you find the way to my house yourselves."

River grinned at her daughter's cleverness. She was proud of her already. The set off back down the street. About half an hour later they were back at Baker Street. They stopped outside 224.

"Very good." said Rose, grinning at them. She got out a small key and let herself inside the house, the Doctor and River following behind her.

"I have no idea why I'm doing this!" she confided.

"You will do soon..." the Doctor assured her. "Rose? Do you, by any chance, have a pocket watch?"

"Um...yeah, actually." said Rose. " It's one of my only possessions. I've had it since I was born."

"Do you know where it is?" The Doctor asked.

"It's in the chest of drawers in my bedroom." she replied.

They came to the door of Rose's bedroom. Rose pushed open the door. River gave a small squeak when she saw inside. The walls were plain grey and the floor was wooden with a small, ragged rug laid out on the floor. There were no windows in the room, just a light bulb hanging limply from the ceiling without a shade to cover it. There was an old, Ikea, DIY bed at the side of the room with a plain white duvet and pillow. The only other furniture was a tiny suitcase at the end of the bed and chest of drawers in the corner. The Doctor ignored the rest of the room and headed straight for the chest. He opened the top drawer and fished out the watch and held it up triumphantly. Meanwhile River was staggering around the room stunned.

"WHEN I FIND THAT BITCH I'M GONNA WRING HER NECK!" she shouted suddenly. " How could she keep you like this!?"

The Doctor frowned, "Calm down River!" he said, putting a comforting arm around her shoulders. He held up the watch and gave it to Rose.

" When you open this watch," he said " everything is going to become clear."

"Open it." said River, urging her on.

Rose ran her thumb over the smooth, metal surface. It was engraved with her name in gallifreyan, but she disn't know it then. She had no idea that what she was about to do was going to change her life forever. She gave the Doctor and River a confused look and then casually flipped open the watch.

The room was suddenly basked in a golden light. It burst from the watch like an explosion and engulfed the Doctor and River. Then Rose appeared to absorb it all. When it was all gone, she passed out.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Rose opened her eyes. Her head was suddenly full of all sorts of information. She gasped when she spotted the Doctor and River looking down at her. Her mum and dad! How did she not remember who they were? Her eyes fell on the fob watch. Of course! Her mum and dad turned her human to protect her and sent her away to live with a human family on earth! She grinned, sat up and threw her arms round both her parents at once. She felt a sharp pain in her back and gave a yelp. Her mum and dad backed off at once.

"Woah there, take it easy!" said the Doctor, carefully lying her back down on the bed. He arranged her curly, red hair neatly on the pillow. " You've had a bit of a shock and absorbed all the energy from the fob watch. I wouldn't move for a few minutes yet."

River walked up to Rose and smiled at her. " Hello my love." she said, softly. " Go to sleep for a bit, you'll feel better for it later." she sat on the edge of the bed and stroked Rose's hair until she fell asleep.

Rose woke up again a few minutes later. her parents were still there. She felt a lot better now, she wasn't in pain anymore.

She threw back the covers and jumped out of bed. " We should find my so-called foster mother!" she said, smirking. "I have a few things to tell her."

"Count me in!" exclaimed River enthusiastically.

The Doctor pulled a disapproving face to show he wasn't in for arguing or violence, but secretly he was slightly pleased that Rose's foster mother was about to get her just desserts. Rose and River marched from the bedroom, Rose taking her fob watch as she left. That was the only thing from her past life that she wanted to keep.

Rose's foster mother was walking down the stairs when the Doctor, River and Rose arrived in the hallway. She immediately looked very scared.

"So..." started River " You've been keeping Rose in the box room with nothing to call her own and renamed her!" she pulled out a gun from the utility belt she always wore around her waist and pointed it at her. " What do you have to say for yourself?"

Rose sighed. "It's no good talking mum!" she said "I've had to live with her for 18 years, I should know!"

"You're right darling." she replied and landed a punch right on the foster mother's nose.

Rose was delighted. " Can I have a go?" she asked her mother.

"Of course sweetie!" River replied.

The foster mother's eyes widened as Rose's fist came sailing towards her face. She ended up crumpled at the bottom of the stairs.

"I've always wanted to do that!" she said, delighted. "I think that's a broken nose!"

Just then, a girl with straight blond hair swaggered trough the door. Rose immediately slapped her round the face.

"I'll explain later." she said to a confused Doctor and River.

The Doctor, River and Rose all left the house. Just as they got through the door Rose stopped, dug around in her jeans pockets and produced her key to the house.

She tossed it to a random person, gestured to the house and told him "It's for that one."

The man looked at her in disbelief, grabbed the key and ran inside the house. The Doctor and River stared at her.

"What?" she said, indignantly "If you have lived with that woman for 18 years you would do the same!"

The Doctor and River both gave her satisfied nods. As they were talking the Doctor, River and Rose were walking past number 221b. They all heard a loud gunshot from inside. Rose marched up to the house and knocked loudly on the door. They same woman from 18 years ago opened the door to Rose. She immediately heard a shout of "BORED!" from upstairs. She sighed.

"Mrs Hudson! I know this is not your fault, nor your responsibility but could you keep Sherlock from being bored please? I'm sick and tired of hearing him shouting at the bloody wall!" She turned round and walked quickly back to the Doctor and River.

"Sorry about that!" she said merrily "Where were we?"

River nudged the Doctor and grinned excitedly. The Doctor just sighed at her. River heard him, made a disapproving face and turned her back on him. Rose looked back at the house and saw the old woman turn and shout...

"Sherlock! There are people complaining about you again!"

"I don't care Mrs Hudson!" came the reply "Bored!"

Rose giggled and turn back to face River. River smiled at her.

"Who was that girl you slapped a minute ago?" River asked her.

"Isobel." said Rose, darkly. She made a disgusted face. "She's my foster parents' real daughter."

"But I thought they couldn't have kids?" River replied.

"Turns out, with a small surgery, they could!" Rose told her."Before Isobel my life was fantastic! I was moved into the box room when I was 5, stripped of all my possessions but they were thrown away anyway. Isobel couldn't have any second hand suff!"

River was shocked and just stared at her daughter.

"Anyway!" Rose continued "Did you get a look at what she was wearing? She had a Chanel top, Hollister jeans, Office boots and she had a DNKY watch and she was carrying a Mulberry handbag!" She pulled a face. "It's all about the brands with her! I hate it! You don't need to have labels emblazoned across you just to look good!" she carried on " But her parents don't know any better! They would do anything to keep thier 'Darling Isobel' happy! They only brands I would willingly have are Ugg boots and Converses because they are the practical but stylish brands." she saw River staring at her. "Ok! Rant over!" she said brightly "Are we nearly at the TARDIS yet? I can't wait to see her again!"

"She's just around the corner." the Doctor told her "Catch!"

He tossed Rose a small metal object. As soon as it hit her hands it glowed with orange light. Rose knew it immediately.

"The TARDIS key." she murmured. She clutched the key tightly to her chest as they rounded the corner. Rose spotted a familiar police box just up the street. She ran straight towards it and hugged it.

"Good to see ya!" she told it. She stroked the dark blue paintwork and fitted the key smoothly into the lock and twisted it. The door swung open and she ran inside.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Rose gazed in awe around the TARDIS. She had already known what it looked like but nothing could prepare her for seeing it in the flesh. She ran up to the console and hugged it as the Doctor and River came in behind her. Rose turned and grinned at them. The Doctor walked over to her, patted her on the back and flicked a few controls.

He quickly gestured to one of the corridors leading off the main console room. "I just made your bedroom! That way for a few minutes, turn left, turn right, left again and it's on your right. You can't miss it!"

Rose giggled and ran off down the corridor. River turned to look at the Doctor as he put his arm round her.

"We got her back River." he said.

"Yeah." River replied "We did." then she started laughing for no reason and pulled the Doctor into a hug.

Meanwhile, Rose had just come to the door of her bedroom. The Doctor was right, she couldn't miss it. It had her name delicately painted on in gallifreyan. She smiled and opened the door.

She had lots more stuff than she did on earth! She had a blue hammock hanging from the ceiling, a dressing table spilling over with jewelery and makeup and a chest of drawers. There were two other doors leading off from the room, Rose peeped round the first door and grinned wildly. It was a huge walk-in wardrobe! She saw racks of jeans, miniskirts are very short shorts. She had tops of all descriptions and even had some slinky jumpsuits. Rose laughed when she spotted a whole row of Converses and another of Ugg boots. Rose slipped on a floaty, light pink top, tiny denim shorts and light pink converses. She smiled at herself in the huge full-length mirror hanging on the wall and struck a few poses. When she was finished, she skipped back into her room.

She pulled open the chest of drawers and gasped. In the first of the two drawers there was an array of guns. A squareness gun , as the Doctor liked to call it, a laser gun, a space blaster and a pistol. Rose ran her fingers over them. She couldn't wait to use them! But she decided that she would only use them on aliens that decided that breaking galactic law was a good thing. She closed the drawer and opened the one next to it. It was full of gadgets. She had a vortex manipulator, a scanner, a sonic screwdriver, psychic paper and and utility belt to put them all in. Rose grabbed the belt and buckled it on eagerly. She slipped every gadget and gun into it except the psychic paper which she put in her pocket instead.

Rose then made her way to the dressing table. She popped in a pair of small, silver earrings with diamonds in the centre. She had had her ears done when she was four, the year before Isobel was born. She found a bracelet and a necklace to match the earrings and put them on. She then carefully applied some mascara, blusher and light pink lipstick. When she was done, she flung herself onto her hammock. As she did she noticed a small blue book that looked the the outside of the TARDIS on the floor. It had some red present ribbon tied in a bow around it and a biro lying next to it. Rose grabbed the pen and the book, untied the ribbon and looked inside. There was a message on the first page.

_To our lovely daughter Rose. We hope you have a better time with us than you did on earth. We are so glad to have you back! If you want to know how we got the message in the book... it's just wibbly wobbly, timey wimey stuff. We want this to be your diary. Being a time traveller is difficult and you have to deal with a lot of feelings. Record everything in here, it will help, we promise. Love, The Doctor and River :-)_

Rose grinned, flipped the page and started to write. After a few minutes she had written a brief history of her childhood and had begun to write about her day.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

The Doctor and River came into Rose's bedroom just as she was finishing her recount. They both looked really happy. Rose noticed that the Doctor had a lipstick mark on his cheek. She grinned and said nothing. River's face lit up when she saw Rose. She could help but smile every time she saw her daughter.

"You've settled in then!" she said.

"Yeah!" replied Rose "Thanks for all my stuff! This has been the best birthday ever, I'm finally an adult, I have two loving parents and a huge new room! What more could anyone want!"

"No problem!" The Doctor said. Just then, he spotted the guns on Rose's utility belt. He gestured to them "Where did you get those?" he asked.

"I found them in the drawers with everything else." Rose replied winked at her and she knew that this was her mum's doing. "I don't know where they came from if you didn't give them to me."

"You must have leaned on a button by mistake sweetie." said River. She gave Rose a subtle thumbs-up. "You seen your bathroom yet Rose?"

"Umm... no actually. I forgot about that!" She jumped off the hammock and ran into the other room.

The bathroom was really cool. It had blue walls and a turquoise tile floor. The pull cord end for the light was made of clay and was painted blue with yellow stars all over it. One wall was completely glass and you could see fish swimming behind it. Rose walked over and pressed her hand up to the glass. A small angelfish swam up, did an underwater somersault and swam away again.

"Show off." she muttered.

As she looked around the room a bit more she saw a huge corner bath that had switch to turn it into a jacuzzi. The toilet was very sleek but pretty average and next to it was a huge white sink with beautiful waterfall taps.

When she came out of the room the Doctor and River were both standing there with two beautifully wrapped presents each.

"Happy Birthday!" They chorused

"But I've already had enough stuff today!" said Rose

"You haven't had any things to unwrap!" said the Doctor " That's what's fun about birthdays!"

Rose smiled at her dad and took the presents that were being held out to her. She took her dad's first parcel and carefully unwrapped it. It was a 12 pack of Jammie Dodgers! Rose tore open the packet and took one of the jammy biscuits she handed one to the Doctor and one to River. The Doctor started spraying crumbs everywhere. Rose undid the Doctor's next parcel. It was fez! She immediately put it on her head. River frowned at the Doctor.

"Thanks dad!" Rose said "Jammie Dodgers are my favorite biscuit and fezzes are DEFINITELY cool!"

River gave an outward sigh at the last part of the sentence. She handed Rose her two parcels. The first was a gorgeous blue fountain pen. Rose looked chuffed and put it carefully next to her new diary. Then she opened the second present. It was a beautiful brass pendant of the Doctor, River and Rose's names all in gallifreyan and entwined in a heart. It was hanging on a silver chain. Rose immediately unclipped the necklace that she was already wearing and put it on.

"It's beautiful!" she gasped "Thank you so much! I'm never going to take it off!"

"So, " The Doctor said cheerfully "It's your birthday! What do you want to do?"


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

The Doctor, River and Rose stepped out of the TARDIS. The Doctor sighed happily and stared up at the deep red sky.

"Gallifrey." he said " There you go!"

"Thanks for bringing me here dad." said Rose " Even if you did leave the TARDIS brakes on!" She giggled and walked over to the edge of the huge hill they were landed on and looked over the massive city below.

"Look over there!" The Doctor pointed at the biggest building in the city. " That's the Citadel!"

River looked around quickly, made an annoyed face and sighed. " I left the picnic in the TARDIS." she said. " I'll just go and get it."

The Doctor looked over at Rose. " This is where you come from Rose, this is where you should live. But the timelords think that they can control everything, it's in our nature, we're leaders. But we couldn't win the time war. The Daleks were too strong!" said the Doctor , half angry, half sad. His face started to crumple. "All these people are dead!" he suddenly shouted.

"Calm down!" said Rose, not really knowing what to do.

The Doctor started to cry as River came out from the TARDIS with a huge picnic hamper.

"Doctor!" she shouted, dropping the hamper. "What's the matter?"

Rose looked sadly at her father, she hated to see him like this.

River ran over and sat next to him, turning his shoulders so he was facing her. "I know that face." she told him, looking into his eyes. "Calm down. You can't do anything! The time war is a fixed point!"

"Let's just go." said Rose, hurriedly. "I don't want to be here anymore if it makes dad like this!"

River got up and reached out to the Doctor to pull him up too when he suddenly jumped up and shouted. "I can help them! I can prevent it from happening if I get to the president and warn him!" he then ran off down the hill.

"Doctor!" River shouted after him. But it was no use, the Doctor had run away.

Rose looked at the despairing form of her mother, staring at the path leading down the hill. "We have to find him." she said "This is all my fault, we should never have come here!"

She grabbed River's wrist and they started to run down the hill. After a good 2-minute run, they came to the city. Rose asked everyone she met.

"Have you seen a man in a tweed jacket and bowtie?"

River just sighed at her and pulled her along. She walked past people who could easily have seen the Doctor, until they got near the citadel. River walked up to a small girl, dressed in rags, who was picking up dropped fruit by some market stalls. "Have you seen a man in a tweed jacket and bowtie go past here?" she asked her. As she did, she pressed a coin into the girl's dirty palm. The girl's eyes widened at the money.

"Uhhh... Yes miss, he went into the citadel, not more than two minutes ago." she replied

"Thank you. Buy yourself something nice with that." she gestured to the money.

"I will miss. I hope you find him." the girl said

"I hope so too. Have a good day." River said and walked away with Rose.

"You see Rose, always ask a child. They see more than adults, notice more..." River told her "... and you can always bribe them little, that always helps." she winked at Rose.

"Wow!" said Rose, grinning. She gestured at the citadel " But how are we going to get into that? I forgot my sonic screwdriver to get in the back door and the guards are all trained to recognise psychic paper!"

"We just have to get in the front." said River "It's simple really."

"But how?" asked Rose. In answer, River held out a tube of lipstick. "What's that?" she asked

"Hallucinogenic lipstick." said River

"Oh, my, god!" exclaimed Rose "I know about that stuff! It's awesome!"

"Yes, It comes in handy." River replied "You need to put some on. There'll probably be two guards so I can give you your first lesson in breaking into places through the front door!" She winked at her daughter. She chucked the lipstick to Rose and she caught it.

As Rose was applying the lipstick, River squealed, grabbed Rose's wrist and yanked her behind some barrels by a market stall. Rose collapsed on top of her. She sat up, frowning.

"What was that for?" She asked, rubbing her wrist where River had grabbed it.

"That guy over there." River said, pointing. "He's a Tesalecta! This one will have seen our TARDIS and come to find us. To them, I'm the woman who kills the Doctor so they'll be on the lookout for me. You could say that I'm actually quite famous!" She said, flicking her hair back dramatically.

Rose giggled at her mother. "Yeah." she said "I know about the Tesalecta. Dad filled my watch with some other information."

"When it's gone, we'll move up to the citadel over there." River pointed "We can't risk it seeing us."

After about two minutes the Tesalecta decided to move on. River pulled Rose up and they made their way to the citadel doors, applying lipstick as they walked.

"Ready?" asked River, when they were nearing the citadel.

"Ready." replied Rose, flicking her hair and pouting. "Do I look good enough?"

"Defiantly." said River.

"Well you would say that wouldn't you!" said Rose "You're my mother, you wouldn't ever dream of insulting me!"

"Wouldn't I?" River mused.

"No." said Rose "And that's final!"

River laughed and came up the nearest guard at the citadel doors.

"What do you want?" he growled in an unpleasant tone.

"Oh, I just want to get into the citadel." River said, fiddling with her hair.

"Sorry love, no can do!" The guard said unsympathetically

"Oh I think this will change you mind." River said. She winked at Rose, who then moved in on the other guard.

Rose pulled away for the guard she was kissing after a few seconds. "Yuk!" she exclaimed, wiping her mouth with her sleeve. "This one kisses like a squid!" She let the guard fall to the floor, unconscious. River did the same and they marched right into the citadel.

A.N

I haven't done an author's note before! Wow, kinda scary huh! But I just wanted to tell you this:

So I was herping my derp, scrollin' thru my tumblr, until I came to the posts that were shipping the Doctor with someone other than River Song. :-(


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

River and Rose strode into the man hall of the citadel arm in arm. River took out her scanner and held it up. She pressed a few buttons and a map of the citadel layout flashed on the screen.

"Hold out your hand Rose." said River.

Rose immediately complied. She already knew that it was best not to question random stuff like that.

Suddenly, a small spike popped out from River's scanner and it bleeped at her. River grabbed Rose's finger.

"This won't hurt a bit!" she assured her and stuck the finger on to the spike.

"Owww!" exclaimed Rose.

"Sorry." said River "I lied!"

Rose glared at her and rubbed her sore and bleeding finger.

"I needed the Doctor's DNA so I can track him." explained River " Look at this." she pointed out a small blue dot that was slowly moving down a corridior on the virtual map.

"So that's dad then." said Rose.

"Yes." confirmed River. "And that's us." she pointed out another two small dots but instead of blue, these were red. They watched the scanner as they walked along.

"Dad's speeding up!" Rose said in alarm as the blue dot started to move quickly along the virtual corridor. She suddenly grabbed River's hand. "Run!"

"You are so like your father!" River exclaimed as she hurtled down the corridor with Rose.

Suddenly, River tripped over Rose's foot and landed in a crumpled heap on the floor.

"I'm fine!" she reassured her daughter, hauling herself back up.

"We're way behind him now!" cried Rose in dismay.

"No thanks to your foot." River pointed out grumpily.

"Hmmm... Good point! Bad foot! Grrrrr!" Rose growled at her foot and shook at fist at it.

"Come on!" shouted River and grabbed Rose, nearly pulling her over!

They ran for a few minutes until they saw the blue dot start to turn and then travel in the opposite direction. The Doctor was coming back towards them.

"He must have got lost! He's coming back this way!" said River, pointing at the dot.

The Doctor stopped still when he saw Rose and River standing in the corridor. He frowned at them.

"What the hell are you doing here? Get back to the TARDIS, now!" he shouted.

"No." said River, standing her ground "Not unless you're coming back with us."

"No. I can't River, I need to save my people." the Doctor said.

"There's nothing you can do!" exclaimed River in dismay "Just come back with us sweetie!"

"I am not coming with you." was the Doctor's only reply.

"Well then sweetie," said River sadly "That leaves me with no other option."

She whipped out a spray can from her belt and sprayed it into the Doctor's face. He immediately blacked out. River caught him and hugged him close.

"I'm sorry my love." she whispered to him.

"Ummm...we probably need to get him back to the TARDIS before he recovers from whatever you just did." said Rose.

"Come one then." said River, still sounding upset. Together they hauled the Doctor out of the citadel.

When they were back in the TARDIS, River and Rose laid the Doctor down on one of the chairs by the console.

"I had to do that." said River "He would have come back with us otherwise. We can't just let him run around altering fixed points in time!" she ran around the TARDIS console, angrily pressing buttons and flipping levers.

"I know." said Rose "I understand. But what did you actually do to him mum?"

"Basic knockout spray." she replied "He'll wake up in about 10 minutes."

As Rose watched River move around the console, she noticed that River was slightly dragging one of her feet behind her.

"What's the matter with your leg?" she asked her.

"It's fine" River said quickly. She tried to stand up on it properly but failed. She nearly fell over and winced with the effort of regaining her balance.

"Stop it! You'll hurt yourself even more!" said Rose, walking over to River. As she tried to help her, River batted Rose away harshly and she fell into the railings around the console. Rose gave her a hurt but sympathetic look.

"You don't need to hide the damage from me." she said, gently.

"I'm sorry Rose." River said, backing away.

"It's fine, I'm ok! But you're not!" she replied. "Just let me have a look."

"No." said River. She stood up properly and held herself there for about three seconds before she groaned and collapsed as her foot gave way. Before she had hit the ground though, Rose had caught her. She hauled River up and let her lean on her and together they hopped over to where the Doctor was still sleeping. River looked at her husband and stroked his face fondly.

Rose carefully pulled up the leg of River's tight fitting trousers to reveal and very red and very swollen ankle. She inspected it carefully.

"It looks like the ankle is broken." said Rose "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I've just been used to hiding the damage from the Doctor. He overreacts." River replied.

"Wait here." Rose said "I need to find something for that."

A few minutes later Rose came back with a tub of ointment. She took off the lid and rubbed some on River's ankle. She immediately recoiled.

"Stop it!" said Rose "I know it stings a bit but just put up with it! It will do you good I promise."

"What is it?" asked River.

"It's an ointment from the planet Messaline." Rose explained. "It was designed for use on soldiers to reduce the recovery time for broken bones. This should be healed in about 4 hours. I noticed that the Doctor had some in his study so I took it to use on you."

"Wow." said River "How did you know that?"

"Just do. Must have been in with the information the Doctor added into my watch." said Rose.

As Rose was applying the ointment to the last part of River's ankle, the Doctor made a small sighing noise. River immediately sprang into action, she hurried Rose up pulled down her trouser leg and held the Doctor's hand as he was waking up. The Doctor opened his eyes.

"Hello sweetie." River purred.

"River? What did you do?" the Doctor asked.

"I stopped you from making a big mistake!" she said. "Don't worry, it's was just a basic knockout spray. You'll feel a bit dizzy but you'll be okay in a minute."

The Doctor got up, growled at her and ran out towards the TARDIS kitchen.

"You'll probably need to rest that." Rose gestured to River's foot, completely ignoring what had just happened.

"Okay I'll go to bed for a bit." River said.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

River opened her eyes. Her ankle wasn't hurting at all, it had healed. River grinned and jumped out of bed. Just as she was walking to the door she heard a piercing scream from the corridor outside. Rose's scream. River grabbed her scanner and ran from the room, but she didn't need it to realise what had happened. There was a light blue ring of dust outside her room.

"Teleport residue." she murmured, taking some of the dust. "Something's taken her."

She burst into the console room two minutes later. The Doctor jumped at her sudden entrance. He saw her expression and frowned.

"What's the matter?" he asked.

"A teleport!" River gasped, slightly out of breath. " Something's taken Rose!"

"Was there anything left behind?" The Doctor asked calmly.

"Umm ... yes." said River holding out her hand, which was full of the blue dust.

The Doctor took some and started to scan it while River went and sat on one of the chairs by the console and started twiddling her thumbs, a permanent worried expression on her face.

About a minute later, the Doctor jumped and shouted.

"I've got a lock!" he exclaimed "We can find her!"

River breathed a sigh of relief, got up from her chair and ran to the console.

Meanwhile, Rose was slumped in a small cell. She knew she was on a spaceship, she could feel the engines rumbling beneath her. Her cell had four plain, metal walls. One wall had a solid door with a hatch in it. Rose tried to move her wrists, but failed. She looked down to see her hands bound tightly together by a pair of handcuffs.

"My first pair of handcuffs." she muttered to herself, grinning. "Mum will be proud."

The TARDIS was hurtling through the vortex at breakneck speed. The Doctor and River were running around the console, each frantically pressing buttons and pulling levers. Suddenly, the TARDIS came to an abrupt halt and the whole console shook violently. The Doctor ran for the door.

"Wait!" River shouted.

"What?" The Doctor replied, hand on the door handle.

"Environment checks." she reminded him "We need to get an idea of what we're dealing with out there."

"Oh... Right... Yes of course." The Doctor said, hurrying back to the console. He walked up to the scanner and pressed a few buttons. The room was suddenly filled with a chilling voice.

"The girl is Timelord!" It screeched "She must be exterminated!"

The Doctor's blood ran cold.

"Daleks." he muttered.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

"Right." Said River, trying, and failing, to keep calm. Her voice was shaking. "What do we do now?"

"We go out there and we find her." the Doctor said firmly.

"Ok." said River, pulling herself together. "I'll get my stuff."

"Stuff?" the Doctor repeated.

"Yes! My stuff sweetie!" said River, looking at the Doctor as if he was stupid. "You know! Guns, torch, scanner, vortex manipulator... when you're dealing with Daleks, you can't leave anything to chance!"

The Doctor rolled his eyes at River's departing back as she turned around and left. He pushed a few more buttons on the scanner and it flicked to a picture of River walking along the TARDIS corridior. The Doctor saw that she had tears in her eyes and was holding her head down as she walked.

"Don't worry River, we'll get her back, I promise." the Doctor muttered into the scanner.

"Sweetie, I can hear you! You've left the speakers on again! Stop spying on me!"

"Sorry, I didn't mean to! Ummm... I...I... oh, nevermind." the Doctor stammered to the scanner picture of River, who was now frowning at the camera. He switched the scanner off and sat down on one of the chairs.

Two minutes later, River walked back into the console room, her utility belt strapped around her waist. She also had another belt on over hers.

"It's Rose's." she explained. " I wanted to bring it for her."

"Good." said The Doctor "You Ready?"

"As ever sweetie."

"Off we go!" said the Doctor, leading River out of the TARDIS door and into the secluded corner of a Dalek spaceship. The Doctor peered out of a small, round window in the wall of the corridor.

"We're in orbit of Skaro." he informed River, unnecessarily pointing out the huge, red planet outside the window. "This must be a Dalek transmission ship, sending out messages, but also receiving them. They must have detected the TARDIS and realised that there was a new Time Lord."

As River and the Doctor stared out of the window, there was a sudden scraping of metal-against-metal on the floor behind them. The Doctor and River both spun around at exactly the same time and found themselves staring into the eyestalk of a Dalek.

Rose heard a scuffling outside her cell and the door flung open. A Dalek was there with the Doctor and River. They couldn't see her, she was in the dark corner of the cell.

"In." said the Dalek. River stood her ground and frowned at the Dalek until the Doctor grabbed her wrist and pulled her inside.

Rose slowly stood up and walked from the shadows into the dim light of the middle of the cell.

"I'm guessing that probably wasn't part of your plan." she said.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

River ran over to Rose, planted a big kiss on her forehead and pulled her into a tight hug while the Doctor set to work on unlocking her handcuffs with his sonic.

"Are you alright?" he asked, worried. "Have they done anything to you?"

"Nope, not a thing!" said Rose,sarcastically holding up her now unlocked handcuffs and flinging them dramatically into a corner, where they fell to the cold,metal floor with a loud clatter.

"Boy am I glad to be getting rid of those!" she commented. "They were starting to dig in!"

River unbuckled the extra utility belt from around her waist and held it out to Rose.

"I thought you might want this." she said. It was then that River noticed that her daughter's eyes were red and puffy. She realized that Rose might have been here longer than they had previously suspected.

Rose took the belt gladly and buckled it around her own waist. "While I was sitting around in here I managed to find an escape route." she said. "That hatch there." She pointed at the ventilation hatch in the ceiling.

"You, are brilliant!" The Doctor exclaimed, running over, giving her a quick, excited hug and then reaching into his jacket pocket for his sonic screwdriver. He set to work on the edges of the hatch, the tip of the screwdriver casting and eerie, green, light over the room. Rose whipped out hers to help, but instead of glowing green, the tip of her screwdriver glowed blue at the tip, it was the Doctor's old one and didn't work as well as the Doctor's; Rose had added a few new settings on the screwdriver to compensate.

Suddenly, one of the bolts came undone, flew across the room, and nearly hit River in the head; She sighed and glared at her husband, who was now looking slightly sheepish.

"Whoops! Sorry honey!" said the Doctor. River shook her head in despair.

"Watch it with those!" exclaimed Rose, as another bolt whizzed past her ear.

"The magnetic pulse is too strong! Something's interfering with it!" the Doctor protested.

"Then use the dampers!"

"It doesn't have damp...Oh..." the Doctor trailed off, remembering saying the exact same words to River in the library.

"What id it sweetie? What's wrong?" River asked, she looked with concern at the Doctor's pained expression.

"Nothing! Don't worry about it!" he replied a bit too cheerfully, forcing a smile. He knew that River could see right through it and she knew that something was very wrong, but he couldn't tell her anything, and that hurt him more than anything else.

"I hope nobody heard that!" said Rose as the last bolt fell out of the hatch and it clattered to the floor. "Can you give me a leg up? I'm a bit short!"

River helped Rose up the hatch. Rose lent back over and pulled up her mother, who then pulled up the Doctor.

"These air vents go across the whole ship." River told them, looking at the map on her scanner. She was still worrying about the Doctor and had decided to try and keep herself occupied as much as possible. "We should better get going before the talking pepperpots downstairs know we've gone."


End file.
